A Villainous Duo
by Kangaroos 'n' Party Hats
Summary: Videl is angry, Gohan is in trouble, and Goten and Trunks just can't help but get involved.
1. All Aboard for Chaos

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Dragonball/Z/GT.

* * *

**Chapter 1: All Aboard for Chaos**

"Aw, but c'mon Videl!" Gohan was pleading. "You know how my mom gets about my studies. After all that time spent trying to save the world from Buu, I missed a lot of school."

"Hmph! Nice try," grunted Satan's daughter. Her blue eyes ignited with a peculiar flash of lavender as she intensified her don't-mess-with-me-or-you'll-cease-to-exist glare. "We all know that the world was too busy being dead to keep school in session. We've missed absolutely nothing, so quit acting like you're behind in school, and listen up."

Whimpering like a puppy that understood the meaning of "neuter", Gohan scooted backwards in his chair until he thumped against his desk. A stack of textbooks promptly spilled across the floor, and although the silence was momentarily broken, the tension just seemed to increase tenfold as the girl continued her slow advancement.

Videl exploded, "First of all, where were you this morning when I was being chased down the street by a mob of fully armed, escaped prisoners? It makes no sense for Saiyaman Two to be out there without Saiyaman One! And what the heck were you doing when all those drunks downtown started shooting flaming arrows at my head?"

"Videl, I—"

"_Furthermore_, what happened to you meeting me for lunch? I'll have you know that I waited fifteen minutes outside in the freezing cold, thinking that you'd show up!"

"Yeah, and you promised that you'd take us to the park!" added two other voices.

Gohan looked past the angry Videl to see none other than Trunks and Goten scowling at him from his bed.

"Geez, not you guys too," groaned Gohan miserably. "Look everyone, I'm really sorry. I guess I've gotten carried away with all my studies. Tomorrow, I'll put them aside and really make this up to you guys somehow."

"We want ice cream and candy and doughnuts and cake!" demanded Goten.

Trunks crossed his arms and nodded in agreement. "And you have to take us to the park for the entire day!"

_Food and supervision, huh? Well that's simple enough. Looks like I'm in luck!_ thought Gohan to himself, chuckling in relief. He then glanced at Videl who was tapping her foot furiously against the wooden flooring. _Heh, well so much for luck._

"So erm, Videl, what is it that you'd like?"

"I want you to suffer."

Gohan blinked. "H-huh?"

"You. Will. Suffer."

A very audible squeak escaped Gohan's throat as he asked again, "B-but…huh?"

"SHE WANTS YOU TO SUFFER!" yelled Trunks, coming to his friend's aid.

"Yeah, I got that!" shouted back Gohan, clearly flustered. Then, more as a desperate plea than a command, he yelled, "Now you two, get out of here and quit barging in on us!"

"Barging in is better than spying, isn't it?" questioned Trunks in a smart-aleck tone.

"Uh-huh!" said Goten. He pouted and crinkled his nose as he continued, "You guys are always kissy-kissy and gross when you don't know we're here."

"Not always," corrected Trunks. "Remember how sometimes they just sit there and do nothing like a bunch of logs? That, or Videl yells at Gohan like she is now. She gets angry a lot. My dad said that's what women are biologically designed to do though, so I guess she can't really help it."

Goten quickly defended, "She's not always mad at Gohan! They train together and have fun, too!"

"True. After they're done sparring, she mostly ends up yelling at him anyway though. Remember that one time when Gohan accidentally sent a ki blast with too much force and gave her a bruised cheek? She got so mad that even I was scared I was gonna die, and we were hiding in a bush almost half a mile away!"

"Oh yeah. That was pretty scary."

Like heat evaporates water, Videl's sudden humiliation had caused her prior rage to vanish. "H-hey! You guys can't just go spying on us!"

"Exactly how many times _have_ you guys spied on us?" asked Gohan. Although his blush was no match for Videl's, his face was still alarmingly red.

The two boys, having forgotten the presence of the very individuals who they were gossiping about, turned to face the two teens and gulped. Sweat beaded from their foreheads as they stammered reassuring words in an unintelligible order and waved their hands before them as if to ward off an incoming onslaught. Sure enough, Gohan lunged forward and lashed out with a firm hand outstretched.

"Run!" yelled Trunks, springing off the bed.

Unfortunately, the command had come too late for Goten who was struggling to escape from his brother's powerful bear hug. Having too much dignity to leave a friend behind, Trunks hurled a ki blast straight at their attacker's head. Instinctively, Gohan dodged the energy sphere and then immediately regretted his act of stupidity as he heard the shattering of a pot where his plant was now thoroughly destroyed.

During his brother's momentary distraction, Goten squirmed away, tripped on a pillow, tumbled off the bed while dragging down the sheets, and then struck his head against the end table with a profound _konk_! The table quaked, and just as Trunks thought it was going to tip over, it collapsed upon itself completely with a crash.

"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" yelped the miniature Goku as a lamp, an alarm clock, and splinters of wood fell upon his face.

Seeing that Gohan was now coming for him, Trunks did the first thing his brilliant mind could think of. He sidestepped towards the speechless Videl, grabbed her by the wrist, and flung her towards Gohan as if she was a weapon. Then, he dashed towards Goten, grabbed him by the feet, and dragged him hurriedly out of the room.

Silence.

More silence.

Then a scream.

"All right! What's going on here?" screeched Chi-Chi, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

Gohan, flat on his back on the floor, opened his eyes. It was dark. Warm. And soft? It was only as Videl rolled off of him that he realized she had fallen onto him. Her chest had been pressed against his face. He blushed. "M-mom! We were just…uh…"

"Don't give me any of your lies, mister! I'm not mad, all right? Just close the door next time. And lock it. There's kids in the house, after all!"

"Wait, no! It's not what it looks like!" burst Videl. "Goten and Trunks were just—"

Before the two teens could defend themselves, to prove to the mother that she was all wrong, the woman marched away, humming away happily at the thought of having a grandchild in nine months.

At last, Gohan leapt back to his feet and helped Videl up. "You okay?"

"I'm so humiliated I could die. Does that sound okay to you?"

"N-no…but c'mon, I'm really sorry…"

Videl gave a sly smirk and began walking out the door. "Don't worry about it. For now, enjoy your books. But be ready for tomorrow."

The demi-saiyan scratched the nape of his neck and tried his best to make light of the situation. He laughed nervously, "Ha, what's happening tomorrow? I'm not going to wake up dead, am I? Heh-heh…"

Videl merely shrugged and left the room.

Gohan gulped.


	2. The Medicine

**Chapter 2: The Medicine**

When most people are worried, they normally don't have the insatiable need to murder someone. Then again, this was Chi-Chi. At the current moment, the mother was convinced that she could turn into a super saiyan three, destroy several universes, and scream her life force into Gohan who was sprawled out on the bed, unconscious and dying.

Well he wasn't actually dying. The teen was simply asleep with a moderate fever. But alas, Chi-Chi was too busy being overly concerned to recognize the difference.

"Oh, my poor baby boy!" the woman moaned. Frantically, she paced back and forth alongside the bed with a towel wrenched between her hands. Every time a bead of sweat emerged on her son's forehead, she dabbed it away faster than a nanosecond could pass. When the teen coughed or sneezed or even winced, Chi-Chi dashed to his side, fully prepared to perform some life-saving maneuver on him.

"Chi-Chi, I think you need to relax," said Videl in what she hoped was a soothing tone. She was sitting at the foot of Gohan's bed somewhat touched by the mother's vigilance but mainly just amused. "I think someone who can save the world won't have a problem dealing with the common cold."

Chi-Chi glared fiercely. "Right, I see how it is now."

Videl raised a questioning eyebrow. "Hm?"

"You sound just like Goku!" the woman yelled hysterically. "You'll probably sneak off into the wilderness and have a dandy ol' spar with Vegeta too, am I right? Yeah, I know you're kind. You might as well have fun since everything and everyone is going to turn out _just fine_ anyway. And what if it doesn't turn out fine? Oh, that's right. We'll just collect the seven dragonballs and somehow start an intergalactic war which will bring about unimaginable amounts of death and turmoil. _Ha_! Won't _that_ be fun?"

As the woman turned back to her son, Videl groaned quietly and buried her face into her hands in complete exasperation. _Ugh, yesterday you leave me to fight a bunch of crooks by myself. Today, you get sick and leave me with your mother. Enjoy your sleep, Gohan. I'm definitely killing you when you wake up._

As the girl fumed quietly to herself, the mother sniffled and wiped an imagined tear from her eye. In a stern voice, she said, "Now excuse me while I go check on the soup. If anything happens, call me right away. Understand?"

Videl simply nodded. She was tired. She wanted to go back to the couch and sleep like she had been. Unfortunately though, Videl couldn't even leave to use the restroom without Chi-Chi perceiving it as a sign of betrayal. Thoroughly angry with Gohan, the girl nevertheless felt a sudden pang of fear as she saw him shiver. She gently slipped the blankets further up his body. The daughter of Mr. Satan was actually about to feel guilty for yelling at the demi-saiyan the night before when two figures materialized in the room.

"What did you do to my brother?" exclaimed the first boy.

"You're a witch!" accused the second.

Perplexed, Videl glanced first at the boy in the teddy bear footsie pajamas and then at the older boy in his usual teal green gi. "What are you two talking about?"

"You made him sick!" cried Goten, tears forming in his eyes. "Make him better!"

"Yeah, you jerk-face! Leave Gohan out of your voodoo-demon magic!"

A bead of sweat rolled down Videl's forehead. When she rose to get nearer to the boys, they scrambled into the corner while clinging to each other for dear life.

"Watch out!" warned Trunks. "Don't look into her eyes. She might possess you or something!"

"I'm not going to possess anyone, and I didn't do anything to Gohan," said Videl. "He just has a cold. That's all. What's gotten into you two?"

"Shut up!" said Trunks. His fists were clenched, and Vegeta's fierce gaze was peering through his eyes. "We were there yesterday when you were yelling at him! You wanted him to suffer, and look! Now he's suffering. This is definitely your doing."

Finally understanding, the girl chuckled. "You guys think I made him sick to get revenge on him? I wish I could take the credit, but I swear it's nature's doing."

As if Goten had been deaf to her words, he cried again, "Make him better or else I'll tell Mom and she'll yell at you!"

_Like she hasn't been already doing that already,_ thought Videl with a sigh. Then, seeing the trembling lower lip, the dribbling snot, the straightened arms ending in fists, and the watering eyes that threatened to commence tantrum, Videl smiled lightly at Goten. To pacify him, she began, "Look, maybe if we could just—"

"Oh good! You boys are up!" said Chi-Chi suddenly, walking into the room. "I just talked to your mother, Trunks. She made some medicine for Gohan, and I need you two to go pick it up. There'll be a big pot of soup and noodles for each of you when you get back."

"Soup 'n' noodles! Yum!" exclaimed Goten, immediately brightening. He licked his lips, sucked up his snot, practically inhaled his tears through his eyes, and went bounding out of the room. "C'mon Trunks! Let's go!"

* * *

At Capsule Corp, Trunks and Goten had quickly acquired the glass vial of medicine from Bulma and were prepared to take off. However, lingering in the lab for a few more minutes, Trunks caught sight of another vial with a purple liquid that bubbled and gurgled unnaturally. "Hey Mom, what's this?"

Bulma, busy inputting commands into her computer, flicked her eyes back to inspect the item of question and without much thought, she replied, "Oh, that? That's just another one of my genius inventions of course."

The woman gave a playful wink and turned back to stare at her work on the computer monitor.

Still curious, Trunks asked, "So what's it do?"

"Well you see, when I was on Planet Namek before you were born, there was this one guy named Captain Ginyu who had the ability to switch bodies. One thing led to another, and I got turned into a frog, which by the way, is totally gross! Meanwhile, that jerk got to prance around in my beautiful, voluptuous body."

Trying not to gag, Trunks murmured, "Er, right…"

"Yup, so besides being one of the worst moments in my life, that incident called out to the scientist in me. I figured it'd be pretty darn cool to create a sort of potion that could cause two people to switch bodies. The potion you're holding there is still in its early stage though, and right now its effect would be unpredictable even to me. After all, I'm pretty busy juggling a few hundred projects around."

"So uh, why are there two bottles? Are they both in an early stage?"

"Well, the two people switching bodies would both have to consume one vial full. They would—hey. Exactly where are you going with this, Kid? You're not planning anything, are you?"

"Huh? What? No way!" chuckled Trunks. He put the vials back into their place on the counter and began walking away. "I better get this medicine to Gohan. See ya!"

As the blue-haired woman turned back to her computer, Trunks tiptoed back into the lab, snatched the two vials, and scampered off.

* * *

On their way back to the Son home, Trunks could not conceal his mischievous grin.

"Hey Trunks, what're you thinking?"

"Well Goten, I'm thinking it's no coincidence that Gohan randomly got sick the day after Videl threatened to make him suffer."

Goten agreed, "It is kinda funny. I don't think Videl would make my brother sick though. They're friends!"

"Maybe. Still, she's a jerk-face. But y'know, Gohan was kinda mean to us too. I mean, he forgot to take us to the park, and we're still kinda mad about that, aren't we?"

"Yeah! And he promised us ice cream and candy and doughnuts and cake today!"

"Right, so I'm thinking that to get a little payback, we mess around with those two."

Goten paused in mid-flight to look at his friend. "What d'you mean?"

Trunks dangled the two vials of purple potion and grinned. "I mean we're gonna have some fun."


	3. Bodily Changes

**Chapter 3: Bodily Changes**

_Dang, what the heck happened to me? _was Trunk's immediate thought as he woke up. _My vision's all blurry, my hearing sucks, and I feel weaker than that one time when Dad refused to feed me for a week as endurance training. Ugh, and my chest feels so darn heavy…_

As the young boy rubbed the grogginess from his eyes, he moaned, "Goten! Hey!"

No response. Trunks rolled over and scanned the room. To his surprise, he was laying on the living room couch. He could have sworn that he had fallen asleep on the floor in Goten's room, but maybe he had sleepwalked. That made sense. After all, it had been a long, restless night. And by restless, he meant extremely fun.

That's right. He and Goten had actually done it. On the night before, they had filled two cups of hot tea with Bulma's body-swapping concoction and had successfully convinced Gohan and Videl into drinking their share. Sure, there had been some mishaps. Goten accidentally touched the boiling water and spent two minutes crying. Chi-Chi had then marched into the kitchen, yelling at the pair for using the stove without permission. Also, Trunks had spilled more than half a vial of the purple liquid on himself, leaving only what he hoped was a sufficient amount to make things work.

Overall, things did seem to work though. After drinking the tea, both Gohan and Videl immediately conked out, meaning that the concoction must have been having some sort of effect. Meanwhile, the villainous duo snuck off, waiting for morning to unravel a new ball of chaos.

_This is gonna be so great_, the boy thought to himself. _Soon enough, Gohan or Videl is gonna wake up and realize that they're in the wrong body. The best part is that they won't even know how it happened. Ha, I can't wait. Too bad I have to be feeling so sick right now though. I must've caught whatever Gohan had. _

Suddenly, a small figure in teddy bear pajamas exited the kitchen and entered living room, munching on a leg of chicken and nestling a bowl of noodles in his spare arm.

"Goten!" exclaimed Trunks.

"Hi!" the boy greeted, smiling through a mouth full of meat.

"About time you show up. Hey, do I look sick to you? I feel like a wreck."

The miniature Goku examined Trunks from top to bottom and shook his head. "Nope. If you're feeling funny, it's probably 'cause of the tea you had last night."

"What are you talking about? I didn't have any of that tea. Now are you sure I don't look weird?"

"You look pretty normal to me."

"All right then. It's just that for some reason I feel all bloated and fat."

"Even if you are fat, I bet Gohan will still like you!"

Trunks raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"I dunno, but my mom says that he really likes you and you two are meant to be together!"

"Cut it out Goten; that isn't funny. You're just being a creep."

"Huh? What's the matter?"

Was his friend really that thick? Trunks shook his head in disbelief. "Forget it. Just sit tight for a second, 'kay? I have to go to the bathroom and take a whiz."

Goten flashed a gummy smile and waved an enthusiastic farewell. "Okay. Have fun, Videl!"

And that's when it all came together. The poor vision, the terrible sense of hearing, the massive lack of ki, the extra weight on his chest, his friend's odd behavior toward him—could it really be? The demi-saiyan glimpsed down at his body except, as he thought, it wasn't really _his_ body.

He was in Videl's body!

"Darn it, darn it, darn it!" said Trunks. The sudden acknowledgement of his feminine voice nearly made him scream. "How the heck did this happen? Gohan was supposed to switch with Videl! Not me!"

Goten blinked and poked his friend uncertainly in the belly. "Oh wow, is that really you in there, Trunks?"

"Yes, you dummy! Now quit touching me and c'mon. We have to check on my body!" As the demi-saiyan catapulted himself off the couch, his new human body immediately crumpled to the floor. "Agh! Why does Videl have to be so darn weak? I can barely move in this stupid thing!"

"Here, I can help you!" volunteered Goten. The boy tossed his food aside, ran to his fallen friend, clasped onto his ankles, and began dragging him down the hall.

* * *

When Gohan woke up, the first thing he saw was Goten dashing down the hall with Videl's ankles in hand and the girl herself dangling behind on the floor. At first, he thought he was dreaming, or at worst, he was merely hallucinating. The medicine that Bulma gave him must have had some strange side effects. However, these thoughts vanished as Gohan heard Videl yell in a way that assured him this was no illusion.

"Goten, slow down and quit banging into things, you idiot! You're gonna make me pee my pants!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying," the small boy whined.

Gohan sat upright in his bed, very alarmed by this sight. He wasn't sure if he should scold his younger brother for the way he was handling Videl or be shocked at what Videl had just shouted. Needless to say, he was very, very, very confused.

Then, to add to it all, the house suddenly quaked with a monstrous _bang_.

* * *

"All right, you two better explain what's going on right now!" demanded Videl when Goten and Trunks—who was inher body—stumbled into the room. "I just blew up half the bed, punched a hole through that wall, and nearly flew into the ceiling when I tried to get up! I mean, I've been through a lot. I've been turned into chocolate by a pink blob, I've died, and I've come back to life, but this is just crossing a line!"

"Hey, at least you're not stuck with this lump of fat anymore," muttered Trunks, gesturing towards his new body. "You should be a little more grateful."

"Grateful? My body has been invaded by an eight-year old boy!"

"Yeah? Well my body's been invaded by an evil witch. You're probably gonna make my body all weak and ugly too."

"Hey, I don't need any of your trash talk, Trunks! I just want this problem fixed."

"Well y'see," chuckled Trunks, "there's a slight problem with that."

"What?"

Trunks scratched his cheek and glanced at his friend. "Goten, care to explain?"

"Um, well…" the small boy began. "We, uh, don't really know how to fix it."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope," said Trunks. "We really have no clue how this happened exactly. We wanted you and Gohan to switch bodies, but that sure didn't go as planned."

Then, with a polite knock, Gohan entered the room. "Er, guys? Is everything all right in here?"

"Not really. Your dumb girlfriend over there blew up half the bed," said Trunks nonchalantly, pointing towards the damage. "Her control over my ki majorly sucks."

Videl emphatically coughed, "Ahem!"

"Oh yeah, and Videl and I also switched bodies. If you haven't noticed."

"And we're out of cake!" interjected Goten, as if this matter was of equal importance.

Gohan stared from Videl's body to Trunk's body, his mouth wide agape and sweat dribbling from his forehead. "Wh-what?"

"We're out of cake," repeated Goten with a pout. "And you promised us ice cream and candy and doughnuts, too!"

"No, I got that part," said Gohan. "What I meant was…I mean…how did…?"

Suddenly, Chi-Chi appeared in the room. "Gohan, there you are! How are you feeling? Are you sure you should be out of bed so soon?'

Gohan gulped, looked from Videl to Trunks again, and replied in an unnaturally high-pitched tone, "Uh, yeah Mom! I'm feeling great. Heh-heh…"

"Something's bothering you," insisted the mother, her maternal senses tingling. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, honestly!" assured the teen, his voice ascending to an even higher pitch. How in the world was he supposed to tell his mom about what was going on? He just couldn't! "I-I'm feeling as good as new."

The woman stared at her son suspiciously for a few seconds longer before finally sighing, "All right. Well, that's good to hear. Breakfast is on the table, so go eat up, everyone. Gohan, you better wash up first. There's no way my little boy is going to school smelling like _that_."

_School_, thought Gohan nervously. He glanced at the raven-haired girl who was actually Trunks and then at the lavender-haired boy who was actually Videl. He sighed.

This was not going to end well.


	4. A Wedding?

**Chapter 4: A Wedding?**

"But Gohan, wouldn't they notice?"

Sighing, Gohan turned to face the raven-haired girl. He studied her face more thoroughly than any book he had opened before and watched as each strand of her hair glimmered under the fingertips of the sun casting down through the Capsule Corp windows. Despite the time she spent outside fighting crime, her face only showed a miniscule hint of tan. Her cheeks were white and surely soft like clouds. Her heart was probably whiter—pure like the wings of an angel.

Again, Gohan sighed. It was unnerving to recall that Trunks was the one in that body now.

"Well Trunks, we don't really have any alternatives. You have to at least try and pretend to be Videl and come to school with me."

"But Mom!" protested the boy, turning to the blue-haired scientist. "This is so unfair! I shouldn't have to be stuck in Videl's body!"

"Unfair? Excuse me, but who's the one who stole my potion vials despite being told that they were in an extremely early stage of development? I told you that the effects would be unpredictable, so why are you acting so surprised? Honestly, you get this irrational behavior from your father!"

"Hmph. I still don't see why Videl can't just be absent for a while," snarled Trunks, shooting the girl in his body a vicious glare. "It'd be less trouble."

Bulma sighed. "Look Trunks, I don't know how long it's going to take for me to find a remedy to this problem, but it's going to be a week at minimum. Meanwhile, we don't want Hercule finding about this situation just yet. Capsule Corporation may be an extremely successful business, but even we'd take a hard hit with complaints from the famous World's Martial Arts Champion. Therefore, we can't allow him to suspect anything wrong with Videl, and a week or more of absences would definitely alert him to our issue."

Videl nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's best that my dad doesn't find out about this for as long as possible. I mean, he still has trouble accepting that I hang out with boys. If he discovers that I'm in the body of a boy, he'll freak out and might even turn to the media in his panic. So please Trunks, you owe it to me for starting this whole mess."

"And maybe we shouldn't tell my mom," added Gohan, almost whimpering at the thought of her outrage.

"Fine," grunted the boy hotly. "I'll do it. I'll go to school with Gohan."

Goten, who had been quietly munching on a handful of cookies, gave a giddy laugh.

* * *

Class at Orange Star High was about to begin in five minutes, and Trunks was hoping that he'd die long before that. Reluctantly, he took the seat that Gohan was gesturing to, which was right beside Erasa.

"Hi Videl!" greeted the bubbly blonde immediately upon his arrival. Then, cupping her mouth with one hand, she whispered to Trunks, "Check out the new kid in the bottom row. Isn't he just a cutie?"

"Yeah. Whatever."

The blonde giggled again. "But that kid is definitely not as adorable as Gohan, am I right?"

Waving, the girl gave Gohan a teasing wink which caused the teenage boy to blush an embarrassing shade of pink. Trunks, sitting between the two, nearly vomited in disgust. No wonder his father protested against him attending public schools! It even made formidable warriors like Gohan turn into a sweating pile of mush.

"Speaking of which," said Erasa, leaning disturbingly close to Trunks so Gohan would not overhear, "how are things going between you two? Have you planned the wedding?"

"Um, well we, uh…" stammered Trunks, caught off guard. What the heck was he supposed to say? He hadn't even known that Videl and Gohan were planning on getting married! Adults and their stupid secrets made things so complicated sometimes. Finally, the boy finished, "…ah, well, not really, but if um, you think I'm supposed to be, then I guess I am."

One second Erasa was sitting nonchalantly at her desk, and the next second the girl had practically exploded out of her chair. Had Videl just admitted that she and Gohan were planning a wedding? Erasa had only been joking! How far had the two come in their relationship? Just last week Videl denied even being in a relationship with the boy. Did this mean that Gohan proposed? But Videl was still in high school! Was she really considering marriage so soon? This was completely unlike her! Unlike _them_. A million questions were bombarding the blonde, but needless to say, she was ecstatic by this news.

_Uh-oh, I guess I said the wrong thing_, thought Trunks, observing the girl's melodramatic reaction. _Ugh, now I'm sweating too_. _My father would be so ashamed if he saw me right now…_

Meanwhile, Gohan's heart seemed to be plummeting to the depths of HFIL. "Trunks, what in the world did you say to her?"

"I might've made her think that you and Videl are getting married."

"WHAT!"

"Erasa, what is it?" Sharpener was then asking, helping the girl up.

"Gohan and Videl!" sputtered the girl. "They're getting—"

"Ready for class!" yelled Gohan stupidly, attracting stares from all corners of the room. "Y-yup! We're getting ready for class! I'm so excited! Aren't you excited, Videl?"

"Er, yeah!" said Trunks, going along with his friend. "Math is really great, heh-heh!"

"Science," whispered Gohan. "We're in science class…"

"I mean science!" amended the boy. "Science is really great!"

A heavy silence filled the room.

Sharpener peered at his raven-haired classmate and smirked. "Wow, looks like Brains is really rubbing his dorkiness off on you, huh?"

Trunks gulped. School hadn't even started yet, and he was already screwing things up. His mom was going to be furious, but how the heck was he supposed to know how Videl acted?

The boy pounded his head against his desk and moaned. "This is so unfair…"


	5. Project Partners

**Chapter 5: Project Partners**

_I can do this!_

That was the single thought on Trunk's mind as he and Gohan walked into math class—the last class of the day. Sure, the beginning of the day was a little rough, and despite a tremendous, rambling effort on Gohan's part, Erasa was still suspicious that a wedding was to take place between Gohan and Videl. Every time that Trunk tried to talk to Gohan, he could see the bubbly blonde leaning closer towards them. When he turned to glare at her to catch her in the heinous crime of eavesdropping, she didn't even pretend to be doing something else. In fact, she leaned in even closer with that horrid "I-know-something-is-going-on" wink. Subtlety was clearly nowhere in the dimension of the girl's intentions.

But there hadn't been any other trouble otherwise, and the day was almost over.

_I'm a saiyan! I'm the son of royalty! I can do this! _ thought Trunks again as he took a seat.

Gohan gave the boy an uneasy, sidewards glance. Trunks merely stared forward, looking intently at the teacher.

_I can do this!_

"Today, Class, I will be assigning you an essay that will be due in a week from today," began the teacher. "It will be on any mathematical topic of your choosing. What concepts will you cover? Where did these concepts originate? How do they apply to today? Such questions shall be answered in no less than ten pages."

_Hmph, what a bunch of baloney_, thought Trunks. _Whatever. It's not like I actually have to do this stupid assignment. Can't wait to tell Videl that she has to write ten pages, heh-heh._

As the class grumbled away, the teacher knocked on his desk to gain their attention again. "But don't worry! I'm about to make this assignment a little more manageable. For this essay, you will be working in pairs."

The class broke into excitement.

"Hey Turbo, be my partner!"

"Azul, who ya workin' wit'?"

"Where'd Daisy go? She was here a second ago!"

And then:

"Gohan, you partners with someone yet?"

"Hey wait, I call Gohan!"

"Gohan, over here!"

"C'mon Gohan, pick me! I'm the smartest one here after you!"

"Gohan, can I be your partner?"

"Yo Gohan, I'll pay you to do my essay!"

Suddenly, half the class was swarming around the demi-saiyan teen who could do nothing more than blush and perspire uncontrollably. Needless to say, he was incredibly uncomfortable. In fact, he was almost whimpering. Honestly, he wouldn't have to be dealing with all of these intrusive bodies if his mother would only let him study at home. But nope, here he was babbling away about how maybe he could or maybe he couldn't be each person's partner.

It was all very confusing until Trunks, fearing that he might get paired up with some other loser, was ready to make things clear.

"ALL OF YOU BACK OFF! None of you even know Gohan half as well as I do, all right? I'm over at his house almost every day and night! His brother and I are practically best friends. We play together all the time. Bet you guys don't even know how to get to Gohan's house," pointed out Trunks.

The crowd around Gohan instantly quieted and all that could be heard was the chattering from other students who had already partnered up. Somewhat dazed by the outburst, a soft voice finally asked, "Isn't Gohan's brother like…seven years old?"

"Yeah, so what?" said Trunks.

"And you…play with him almost every night?" asked the kid.

"Yeah, we hang out all the time."

"And he's seven."

Becoming annoyed now, Trunks grunted dangerously, "Yes, he is."

"And you play with him? Like you do some arts and crafts with him or something?"

"Arts and crafts? What kind of sissy stuff do you think we do?" said Trunks, crinkling his nose. "Just last week I went swimming with him and later we caught a fish the size of a bus. It was a ton prettier than your miserable looking face. Now what's with all the questions? Just back away and let me partner up with Gohan already."

Then, like a bolt of thunder, a fiery pain struck Trunks in the back. Gohan was there, somehow managing to make his whisper come out as a yell. "Trunks! Remember whose body you're in!"

And then Trunks understood. To the crowd, he was Videl. So basically, he had just told them that he, an eighteen year old female reaching adulthood, played with a little boy every night and went swimming with him. The disturbed expression on everyone's faces? They made sense now.

Before Trunks could explain himself, the teacher rapped on his desk to gain the class' attention again. "All right, now that you guys have fussed for long enough, I want you to sit back down and listen up because I wasn't quite done yet."

There was an awkward shuffling as kids retreated from around Gohan's desk to return to their own. Trunks sat beside Gohan, wanting to bash his head through the wall. How could he be such an idiot? This was the kind of mistake that Goten would make—not him! It must have been Videl's stupid body. It probably didn't circulate blood through the brain properly and was interfering with his good sense.

"What I wanted to tell you all," said the teacher, "was that you aren't picking your partners. I'll be doing that for you."

At once, Trunks forgot about his blunder and turned to Gohan. He begged, "Hey, you can't let me get paired up with someone else! Do something!"

"S-sorry Trunks, there's nothing I can do right now. We can only hope that by some stroke of luck he puts us together so—"

"Starting with you, Ms. Satan!" announced the teacher. "You'll be working with Sharpner."

Gohan sighed. He just wanted to go back to the good old days where he fought bad guys and put himself in exorbitant amounts of danger. This school stuff was just impossible. But the bad news didn't end there. Oh no. It got worse.

A lot worse.

After almost the entire class had been assigned partners, the teacher declared, "And last but not least, Gohan, you will be working with Angela."

With that said, the bell rang and class was dismissed.

* * *

"Oh, thank goodness you two are back!" said Bulma, opening the door to her home for Trunks and Gohan. "How'd it go, huh?"

Videl and Goten were there as well, waiting eagerly to hear a response.

"Well…er…I…" began Gohan miserably. "It's just…I mean…"

"Here's how it went," said Trunks firmly. "Erasa thinks Videl and Gohan are getting married, half the math class is under the impression that Videl is a pedophile who plays around with Goten, Videl is paired up with Sharpner for a ten page essay due next week, and Gohan has to work on the project with his ex-girlfriend Angela."

Videl slowly levitated so her small, half-saiyan body could be at eye-level with Gohan. "Is that true?"

Gohan scratched a nervous itch on his cheek. Videl could be scary enough on her own, but now that she was in a body enhanced with saiyan powers, he couldn't help but tremble. "Um, heh-heh, well…wh-which part?"

"All of it."

"Well then y-yeah. I suppose that would be...an accurate account of what went on today."

Faster than a super saiyan could blink, Videl had punched Gohan in the face and the demi-saiyan was lying unconscious on the floor. Goten, who by this time was used to the violent relationship between Videl and Gohan (Videl being the one doing the violence and Gohan being the one to receive it) barely flinched as his brother fell to the ground. He turned to Trunks with a puzzled look.

"Hey Trunks, what's a pedophile?"

The demi-saiyan in question merely smirked.

"It's what everyone thinks Videl is."


End file.
